Joe "The Nose" Wilk and Anthony "Lionheart" Smith both cemented their positions as rising stars in the Midwest mixed martial arts (MMA) scene last night (April 13, 2012), walking out of the cage with VICTORY Fighting Championship (VFC) titles wrapped around their wastes.

Both fighters rose to the occasion at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to finish two tough opponents and win their respective titles. Wilk has been tearing up the regional circuit with wins at Titan and VFC, while Smith was allowed out of his Strikeforce contract to fight for the VFC belt, so a loss for either fighter could have been a major setback.

The professional portion of the card started with the only professional fight to go the distance, as Brian Houston and Josh Heath duked it out for three rounds. The only reason this fight made it to the judges scorecards is that, apparently, Heath has had a granite implant in his chin. He showed a ton of heart, but it wasn't enough to stop Houston from a unanimous decision victory.

Brandon Pfannenstiel came into the cage undefeated and got to leave that way. He made fairly quick work of Jordan Eggli, winning via triangle halfway into the first round, improving his record to 4-0.

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Justin Salas and Joe Ellenberger are seen by many as the two best 155-pound fighters not yet signed to a major mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. That may have changed for one of them last night (Oct. 14, 2011) at Victory Fighting Championship (VFC) 36 at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Salas earned a hard fought unanimous decision over Ellenberger in the main event of the evening. Both fighters knew that winning this fight could lead to more than the VFC title, which wasn't lost on Salas during the post fight interview, during which he called for a chance to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

When two fighters with such good wrestling backgrounds square off, it’s either a lay and pray snooze fest or non-stop action. This fight was definitely the latter. Both fighters showed what a true MMA fight looks like.

Salas and Ellenberger went from going for the knockout to ground-and-pound to submission attempts, with a good dose of "Holy Sh*t" moments thrown in on both sides. Whether it would be Salas’s big right hooks of Ellenberger’s flying knees, the crowd was on their feet for the entire five round affair.  

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The people in central Kansas last Friday night (Aug. 26, 2011) finally got to see what makes Victory Fighting Championship (VFC) the Midwest's premier MMA promotion: a commitment to putting on exciting fights that keep fans coming back.

With the sellout crowd at the Mariott Convention Center, it's a safe bet that VFC will be back, but in a larger venue. With this being a show where the amateurs outnumbered the professionals, it was really up to them to set the pace and they didn't disappoint.

In the opening fight of the night, Nate Alvarez (2-2) used superior wrestling and top control to earn a decision over Army Lieutenant Paul Lewdownski (1-2). The second fight saw two Muay Thai fighters duke it out for close to three rounds before Brandon Phillips (6-1) caught Keith Koen (4-6) in a standing guillotine. The third fight saw Cody Hazerd (3-1) grind out a decision over Matt Valnoski (6-3). Proving you can never count someone out, Cody Rhinehart (3-1) outlasted the first round onslaught of Josh Pfiefer (5-4) to win by guillotine in the second.

In the amateur main event, and what would end up being "fight of the night" (FOTN), Gregg Van De Creek (7-1) won a hard fought decision victory over Jett Jones (12-5). Gregg, who normally fights heavyweight, was originally without an opponent and fight night was getting closer.

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On a national scale, Abe Wagner and Joe Ellenberger tend to be known best for something other than their fighting accomplishments inside the cage. Wagner, being remembered as a "supporting" cast member on The Ultimate Figher (TUF) and Joe as the "other" Ellenberger.

At Victory Fighting Championship (VFC) 35 show at the Mid America Center in Iowa both fighters made it clear they want UFC matchmaker Joe Silva’s attention, again, by winning in two different, but impressive fashions.

Ellenberger (12-0) might be best known as the older (by a minute) brother of UFC rising star and VFC vet Jake Ellenberger. What most people don’t know is Joe was offered a UFC fight and had to turn it down because of a rare blood disease.

Fast forward two years, the doctors have him healthy, and he’s looking to get the belt he had to vacate back in his possession. Standing in his way was James Warfield (17-9), but  Ellenberger wasn’t letting Warfield spoil his return and put on a clinic on ground control and aggression en route to a unanimous decision victory.

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Sunday night UFC light heavyweight Jason Brilz (17-2-1) looks to put one back in the win column when he faces Eric Schafer (11-4-2) at UFC Live: "Vera vs. Jones" from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colo., which airs on the Versus network.

Brilz is 2-1 since signing with the UFC, with wins over Brad Morris and Tim Boetsch, followed by his first Octagon loss at UFC 103: "Franklin vs. Belfort," where he ended the night on the wrong side of a split decision against Eliot Marshall.

His opponent on Saturday, Eric "Red" Schafer, is 3-3 with the world’s top promotion and 4-1 in his last five fights. Although he’s coming off a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 104: "Machida vs. Shogun," he holds recent victories over Antonio Mendes and Houston Alexander.

We had the chance to talk to the soft-spoken fighter about his upcoming challenge, training for "Red" and balancing his part-time fighting career with being a full-time father.

Here we go:

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VFC 30: "Night of Champions" didn’t disappoint mixed martial arts (MMA) fans for the quality of fights, but the outcomes weren’t the best for the hometown favorites.

There were three titles on the line, as well as two bouts to determine the match up for the 170-pound title fight. 

In the welterweight showdowns, Jake Hecht (5-1) defeated Anthony Smith (5-5) because of a referee stoppage with 25 seconds left in the third round. And the second fight featured perhaps the future VFC 170-champion and UFC fighter, Leonardo Pecanha (11-5), defeating Ted Worthington (29-19) via triangle choke from the mount.

The shining moment for the local crowd came when 155-pound fighter, Dakota Cochrane, kept his undefeated record intact (2-0) with a win over Jeremy Malaterre (3-2) via unanimous decision.

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Just a few hours before the biggest fight of his career — against YouTube sensation-turned-The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) veteran, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson — five-fight UFC veteran Houston Alexander invited one of MMAmania.com’s very own into his corner for a few quick words.

MMAmania’s "Omaha" Mike McColgan got a chance to follow Alexander during the week, and despite the propensity for a knockout that both "The Assassin" and Slice bring with them into the cage, we saw our share of drilling submissions during training.

We’re not going to say which ones we saw … just that Eddie Bravo would be proud.

In between training sessions, Alexander talked about family (he’s a father of six), fighting Kimbo at a catchweight, and the progress he’s made since we last saw him in the UFC (he’s fresh off a victory over 25-fight veteran Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline MMA 4 in September).

Check it out:

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At UFC 107: "Penn vs. Sanchez" on Dec. 12, lightweight contender Clay "The Carpenter" Guida (20-10) will take his frenetic, caution-to-the-wind style against the technical fighting of Kenny Florian (11-4/9-3UFC) in an effort to move one step closer to a title shot.

I got the chance to get in a few quick questions with Clay between an autograph session and a workout before he was off to watch the Couture vs. Vera fight this weekend.

Check it out:

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There's a welterweight brouhaha cooking between 170-pound veterans Jake Ellenberger (21-5) and Mike Pyle (19-6-1) for the upcoming UFC 108 card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 2, MMAmania.com can confirm.

Ellenberger is a dangerous striker who got people talking after shutting off the switch on Marcelo Alfaya at Bellator Fighting Championships 9 back on June 12.

The former middleweight made his Octagon debut against the crafty Carlos Condit at UFC Fight Night 19 just last month. The Elite Performance product was pouring it on in the opening round, but "The Natural Born Killer" hung on and survived, squeaking out a split decision victory.

That loss interrupted a four fight winning streak that saw Ellenberger take eight out of ten bouts with five (T)KO stoppages.

Like Ellenberger, Pyle didn't exactly have it easy in his UFC debut. "Quicksand" was knee deep in submissions trying to overcome the offense of top WEC prospect Brock Larson when he debuted at UFC 98: "Evans vs. Machida."

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Up-and-coming middleweights Mark Munoz (6-1) and Ryan Jensen (14-5) have agreed to hook 'em up in a 185-pound affair at UFC 108 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 2, MMAmania.com can confirm.

Munoz first turned some heads with two strong showings under the WEC banner in 2008. The collegiate wrestling champion from Oklahoma State University debuted for the promotion at WEC 34: "Sacramento," scoring an impressive first round technical knockout win over Chuck Grigsby.

Six months later he was back in action on the WEC 37: "Torres vs. Tapia" card. And, again, he was impressive with a first round technical knockout, this time over WEC newcomer Ricardo Barros.

Munoz looked to carry that momentum into his UFC debut against Matt Hamill on March 7, unfortunately "The Hammer" used a brutal head kick to send "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" to his first career loss — and a date with a ringside stretcher.

After shaking the cobwebs out, Munoz returned to UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira to outpoint a game Nick Catone to steal the split decision win and hopes to take that momentum into his Jan. 2 affair.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veterans Houston Alexander and former heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia, were both in action last night (Sept. 18) at Adrenaline MMA IV at the Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa, trying to turn out of three-fight losing skids.

Alexander got the first chance in the co main event against Sherman Pendergarst.

He opened the light heavyweight contest with devastating leg kicks. Pendergarst saw an opportunity for a shot and attempted a double leg takedown; however, Alexander sprawled and unleashed several more leg kicks.

The damage done by the leg kicks, as well as subsequent knees from within the clinch, sent Pendergarst crashing to the canvas. Alexander then cleaned up the mess he created with vicious ground and pound that led to a first round technical knockout stoppage.

Sylvia was up next against Jason Riley -- a very bright prospect who was out to make a name for himself off "The Maine-iac".

It didn't happen.

The first minute of the fight was essentially a "feeling out" phase with a punch or two followed by clinching with a few knees. When the two separated, Riley uncorked several nice punches that found their marks. Sylvia responded with an uppercut, followed by a hook, which connected to put Riley on the ground.

That was all it took.

First round technical knockout for Mr. Sylvia. But don’t expect to see him back in action anytime soon -- on the way out out of the cage he was overheard saying he broke his hand in the fight.

The show also featured an undercard of amateur fighters from the Midwest who were eager to make statements and get to the next level. Todd Meneely -- who may have turned in the most dominant performance of the night -- is certainly an up-and-comer to keep an eye on.

Here are the complete Adrenaline MMA 4 results:

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